That is at the moment’s version of The Obtain, our weekday publication that gives a day by day dose of what’s occurring on the earth of know-how.
What’s subsequent for carbon elimination?
After years of progress that spawned a whole bunch of startups, the nascent carbon elimination sector seems to be dealing with a reckoning.
Operating Tide, a promising aquaculture firm, shut down its operations final summer time, and a handful of different corporations have shuttered, downsized, or pivoted in current months as effectively. Enterprise investments have flagged. And the collective trade hasn’t made a complete lot extra progress towards Operating Tide’s formidable plans to sequester a billion tons of carbon dioxide by this yr.
The hype part is over and the sector is sliding into the turbulent enterprise trough that follows, specialists warn.
And the open query is: If the carbon elimination sector is heading right into a painful if inevitable clearing-out cycle, the place will it go from there? Learn the total story.
—James Temple
This story is a part of MIT Expertise Evaluate’s What’s Subsequent sequence, which appears throughout industries, tendencies, and applied sciences to offer you a primary have a look at the longer term. You may learn the remainder of them right here.
An AI app to measure ache is right here
This week I’ve additionally been questioning how science and know-how might help reply that query—particularly relating to ache.
Within the newest subject of MIT Expertise Evaluate’s print journal, Deena Mousa describes how an AI-powered smartphone app is getting used to evaluate how a lot ache an individual is in.
The app, and different instruments prefer it, might assist docs and caregivers. They may very well be particularly helpful within the care of people that aren’t capable of inform others how they’re feeling.
However they’re removed from good. And so they open up every kind of thorny questions on how we expertise, talk, and even deal with ache. Learn the total story.
—Jessica Hamzelou
This text first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Expertise Evaluate’s weekly biotech publication. To obtain it in your inbox each Thursday, and skim articles like this primary, enroll right here.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you at the moment’s most enjoyable/essential/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 Meta’s legal professionals suggested staff to take away elements of its teen psychological well being analysis
Its counsel instructed researchers to dam or replace their work to cut back authorized legal responsibility. (Bloomberg $)
+ Meta just lately laid off greater than 100 workers tasked with monitoring dangers to person privateness. (NYT $)
2 Donald Trump has pardoned the convicted Binance founder
Changpeng Zhao pleaded responsible to violating US cash laundering legal guidelines in 2023. (WSJ $)
+ The transfer is prone to allow Binance to renew working within the US. (CNN)
+ Trump has vowed to be extra crypto-friendly than the Biden administration. (Axios)
3 Anthropic and Google Cloud have signed a serious chips deal
The settlement is value tens of billions of {dollars}. (FT $)
4 Microsoft doesn’t need you to speak soiled to its AI
It’ll go away that type of factor to OpenAI, thanks very a lot. (CNBC)
+ Copilot now has its personal model of Clippy—simply don’t attempt to get erotic with it. (The Verge)
+ It’s fairly straightforward to get DeepSeek to speak soiled, nevertheless. (MIT Expertise Evaluate)
5 Huge Tech is footing the invoice for Trump’s White Home ballroom
Get up Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft. (TechCrunch)
+ Crypto twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss are additionally among the many donors. (CNN)
6 US investigators have busted a sequence of high-tech playing schemes
Involving specially-designed contact lenses and x-ray tables. (NYT $)
+ The case follows insider bets on basketball and poker video games rigged by the mafia. (BBC)
+ Automated card shufflers might be compromised, too. (Wired $)
7 Deepfake harassment instruments are simply accessible on social media
And easy net searches. (404 Media)
+ Bans on deepfakes take us solely to date—right here’s what we actually want. (MIT Expertise Evaluate)
8 How algorithms can drive up costs on-line
Even benign algorithms can generally yield unhealthy outcomes for consumers. (Quanta Journal)
+ When AIs discount, a much less superior agent might value you. (MIT Expertise Evaluate)
9 The best way to give an LLM mind rot
Prepare it on quick “superficial” posts from X, for a begin. (Ars Technica)
+ AI educated on AI rubbish spits out AI rubbish. (MIT Expertise Evaluate)
10 Meet the tech staff utilizing AI as little as potential
In a bid to maintain their abilities sharp. (WP $)
+ This professor thinks there are different methods to show individuals easy methods to study. (The Atlantic $)
Quote of the day
“He was convicted. He’s not harmless.”
—Republican Senator Thom Tillis criticises Donald Trump’s determination to pardon convicted cryptocurrency mogul Changpeng Zhao, Politico stories.
Yet one more factor
We’ve by no means understood how starvation works. That is perhaps about to vary.
Once you’re ravenous, starvation is sort of a demon. It awakens probably the most historic and primitive elements of the mind, then commandeers different neural equipment to do its bidding till it will get what it desires.
Though scientists have had some success in stimulating starvation in mice, we nonetheless don’t actually perceive how the impulse to eat works. Now, some specialists are following recognized elements of the neural starvation circuits into uncharted elements of the mind to attempt to discover out.
Their work might shed new gentle on the elements which have triggered the variety of chubby adults worldwide to skyrocket lately. And it might additionally assist clear up the mysteries round how and why a brand new class of weight-loss medication appears to work so effectively. Learn the total story.
—Adam Piore
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction to brighten up your day. (Acquired any concepts? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.)
+ Center aged males are entering into cliff-jumping. Do you have to?
+ Pumpkin spice chocolate chip cookies feels like an excellent thought to me.
+ Christmas Island’s crabs are on the transfer! 
+ Be careful in the event you’re taking the NY subway at the moment: you may stumble upon these terrifying witches.